Sorrow and Hope

Dispatch from Jerusalem

Israel Creates the Syrian Liaison Unit

Israel is planning for a long period of instability [due to] a political vacuum on the border with Syria in the Golan Heights. Therefore, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has expanded and created units in the Northern Command which deal specifically with maintaining contact with local residents on the Syrian side of the border. The

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An Intifada by Any Name

From September 2015 to the writing of this article in April 2016, 34 people have been killed across the nation of Israel in what some are calling “random acts of terror.” Another 413 have been wounded, some seriously, including four Palestinians who were mistaken for Israelis. There have been 213 stabbing attacks, 83 shootings and

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On Wings of Eagles

No one knows for certain when the first Jews arrived in Yemen. Some say they were sent by King Solomon to collect gold and silver to be used in constructing the First Temple. Another legend holds that under the prophet Jeremiah some 75,000 Jews, including priests and Levites, traveled to Yemen. Archaeological evidence of the

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The Beautiful Land: Biblical Flora of the Holy Land

The Holy Land of today is rich with vegetation of every description. Ancient Israel would have looked even more lush. The cedars of Lebanon were famous throughout the known world; Bashan had towering pines and oaks; and the Jordan Valley was treed with date palms. Olives, figs, pomegranates and grapes made the land fruitful. From

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A Recipe for Happiness

What could be worse than finding out that you somehow missed a holiday? Gone is your opportunity to sleep in, have a barbecue or spend a leisurely day with friends. But that’s what has been happening to most of us since 2012 when the 193 members of the UN General Assembly voted unanimously to set

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Upping the Ante, Iran Intensifies Public Hatred of Israel—Here’s Why

Words are cheap—unless they are written on ballistic missiles. And when Iranian media publicized that wiping Israel off the earth had literally been written, in Hebrew, on missiles tested by Iran, that was an expensive and deadly serious message. That brazen rhetoric was sandwiched between two threats from the leader of Iranian-proxy Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan

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Israel Aid Teams Bring Relief to Disaster-stricken Japan

Once again, Israelis were the first on the ground, bringing much-needed relief in response to two devastating earthquakes that shook Japan’s Kumamoto province in April of this year. Nearly 50 people were killed and thousands injured by the powerful quakes. The tremors resulted in dangerous landslides and caused large-scale damage to roads, bridges and other

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Scrolls Survived Holocaust

Three Books of Esther scrolls that survived the Holocaust and were read on Purim were recently discovered in a hidden synagogue at the Warsaw ghetto, which was found after a wall in an old building in the ghetto collapsed. The scrolls were found by researchers at the Shem Olam Institute, also known as the Faith

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Israel’s Hot Cure for Lethal Radiation

Pluristem Therapeutics, a Haifa based Israeli company, is developing a treatment therapy for patients who have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation, for instance in a nuclear terror attack or accidents at power plants. By definition, lethal radiation is a level that would kill 70% of the exposed population. Clinical trials on large animals

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Summertime Is Salad Time

An array of lush produce is grown in Israel throughout the summer months. Mango orchards produce a whopping harvest of 50,000 tons, of which 60% is sold in local markets and 40% exported around the world. Orchards are primarily located in the Galilee area, but grow as far south as the western Negev. Avocado orchards

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